Jul 20, 2010

We all know that cheese is cheese and made from sour milk, but if you look at some packages, you find cheese products and cheese food. Here is the difference.

Cheese food is somewhere between 51 percent and 99 percent cheese. It is a food product made from regular cheese, and almost always with the addition of whey, emulsifiers, milk, salts, preservatives, and food coloring. Processed cheese is also known as “process cheese”, “prepared cheese”, and “cheese food”. American cheese and some 'squirt cheese' are cheese foods. James L. Kraft created the first commercially available sliced processed cheese.

Cheese product is composed of less than 51 percent cheese. More than half the product is made up of ingredients like emulsifiers, carrageenan (seaweed-extract stabilizer) and flavorings, like citric acid for that cheesy tanginess. Cheez Whiz and some varieties of Velveeta are cheese products.

Average Americans eat about 30 pounds of cheese a year.

A great cheese slicer when yours is in the dishwasher, use unwaxed dental floss.